As a car owner, you need to give extra attention to your vehicle to increase its lifespan. But when you feel that your car is behaving strangely, it’s mainly due to its alignment. But sometimes, we confuse balance with alignment. For example, Should I balance my tires before an alignment?
This the main question that confuses car owners when they give their car for alignment.
For most car drivers, tire balance is similar to car alignment, and this concept of similarity can lead to mistreatment of the vehicle. We would discuss the basics of alignment and balancing and the signs when they should be done to prevent this. So keep seated to find out more.
Contents
The significant differences between car alignment and balance
Car owners (especially newbies) often confuse tire balance with alignment. To answer, “Should I balance my tires before an alignment?” you need first to understand the primary difference between balance and alignment. So here is a simple chart that will clear up your concepts quickly.
| Alignment | Tire balance |
|---|---|
| It is the tuning of a car's suspension. | It is used to correct the uneven distribution of the weight in tires. |
| This suspension connects the wheel with the body. | This unequal weight occurs due to wear and tear on tires that come while driving. |
| Alignment majorly adjusts the angle of the tires to prevent off-road driving. | Tire balance prevents extra wear and tear and enhances the tire's durability. |
| We do an alignment in cars to enhance the handling and grip of the car. | Wheel balancing takes one to two hours. |
| Car alignment takes half an hour. | Therefore, people should do tire balancing often for a decent drive. |
| This is not a regular doing procedure. | -- |
Understanding these differences eases you significant problems and confusions that come with these two terms. In addition, it improves your car diagnostics and limits its options of treatment.
Should I balance my tires before an alignment? Yes or No?
After understanding the fundamental differences between car balance and alignment, we can clearly distinguish these two terms. But do you have to balance tires before alignment? The considerable and straightforward answer is no.
According to the car experts, none of the two terms affect each other’s performance. They have their separate entity and need to be done individually. For example, wheel balance resists tire wear and imbalance of weight, whereas alignment improves steering handling. You cannot depend on only one procedure, and you have to do it often to maintain your vehicle.
Some many signs and symptoms show that your car needs either balancing or alignment. But sometimes, the car shows mixed symptoms, which indicates that your car needs to go through both of these procedures.
Indications for car alignment
Symptoms of car alignment and balancing can be confusing, and there are chances that you might get one thing done instead of the other. To ease you out, the following are the significant indications telling that your car needs alignment.
- The car is moving in a tilted direction with centered steering.
- The wears and tears on the front and back wheels are uneven and different on each of those wheels.
- The automobile is moving in an oblique direction while handling the steering.
- There is constant vibration in the steering wheel when you are moving it.
- When you see constant force on the suspension and shock absorbers, this is the final and extreme indication that tells you to get a car alignment.
If you see any of the above symptoms in your ride, you should know that it’s time to align your car urgently.
Indications for tire balancing
Maintaining your tire balance is an essential aspect of proper driving. Mentioned below are the reminders to get the tires of your car or truck balanced immediately.
- You will have to face harsh car handling.
- In damaged tires, there are constant vibrations in the steering wheels.
- Due to the tire wear, your car will consume more fuel to give you better performance. This is a good indicator of unbalanced tires.
- Tire wear, there will be patterns of tread damages that come with off-road driving.
- You will see a high load on car supporting parts, including shock absorbers, bearings, wheel assembly, etc.
Pro point
An expert car mechanic will always wash your car (especially the tires) before balancing. It is crucial because the dirt and grime present between the treads of the wheels can alter the weight distribution of the tires, leading to unequal tire balancing. So ask the mechanic to wash your car tires first before starting the entire procedure of balancing.
Benefits of tire balancing and alignment
Should I balance my car before alignment? We said that it’s not necessary. But taking your car through these procedures has some fantastic benefits. The whole method of tire balancing is an entire automatic procedure that equalizes the weight among the tires. This process helps to improve the tire quality and enhances fuel efficiency with smooth traveling.
When it comes to tire alignment, its proper mechanism reduces the useless weight from the wheel connecting parts of the car. Moreover, it also reduces the treadwear from the tires. Alignment leads to smooth and proper steering and handling that gives better car rides.
Final verdict
A car’s mobility is highly dependent on its tires as well as its angle of placement. People often ignore minor inconvenience that comes during regular driving. In reality, these slight malfunctions can cost a major bill in the future. These minor checklists include misalignment of the car and unbalanced tires. So for informational purposes, we discussed the primary mechanism of car maintenance that includes car alignment and tire balancing.
In this article, we discussed that should I balance my tire before an alignment? And we got a satisfying answer for everyone. Along with that, we also mention that indications that tell when your car needs distinct pampering from either of these two methods. Finally, we also discussed some of its significant benefits that will enlighten your phenomenon related to these two terms.